Golden Glory manager Bas Boon is still a little confused as to why his team’s relationship with Zuffa imploded so quickly. Back recently from a two-week stint in a Thai hospital as the result of an infection, he returned to news that all of his fighters had been booted.

The manager would nonetheless like to salvage the relationship by returning to the negotiating table to get now-former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem a deal in the UFC – following their rules.

“What I want to accomplish is that we all sit at the table, find a deal, and that Alistair will fight the top three in the UFC,” the manager today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’m not going to ask for crazy things.”

Although he declined to go into detail about negotiations that took place prior to Overeem’s dismissal two weeks ago, Boon denied shaking down the industry-leading promotion as the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix semifinals were booked for Sept. 10, a date far earlier than one he said had been promised by the promotion’s CEO, Scott Coker.

He did, however, say that he asked for a deal he thought was fair given Zuffa’s insistence on signing an exclusive contract, one that would prevent Overeem from taking lucrative opportunities in K-1. The fighter’s previous deal with Strikeforce, which had one fight remaining at the time of his release, allowed him to do so.

“It should be logical that it’s worth some kind of money,” Boon said.

Regardless of the request, Boon said Overeem was unable to fight on Sept. 10 due to a broken toe suffered prior to his win over Fabricio Werdum in the grand prix’s quarterfinals. He was unaware at the time that Overeem also had a broken rib, which was later revealed on his web series, “The Reem.”

But when the fighter gave an interview to MMA Fighting in which he grumbled about threats of being cut if he didn’t participate, he may have angered Zuffa, Boon said.

The manager, though, denied making waves with the company in their working relationship, particularly when it came to the company’s policy on the payment of fighters (Zuffa requires that it pay fighters directly or route payments through the athletic commission overseeing an event).

“It’s not the way we do business,” White said. “It’s not how it works in the U.S. You don’t pay the manager and the manager pays the fighter. You pay the fighter, and the fighter pays the manager.”

White said the team made a stink over payments prior to the octagon debut of Jon Olav Einemo, who fought Dave Herman at UFC 115 in June 2010.

Boon, however, said his team had agreed to Zuffa’s terms. When an issue arose over Einemo’s pay – foreign checks take six to eight weeks to clear in Holland, he said – a Zuffa lawyer explained that fighters could open an account at the bank where Zuffa does business and the check would clear in two days. The payment could then be transferred wherever the fighter desired.

“That deal was a done deal,” Boon said. “I wasn’t going to complain about the deal.”

Although Boon defends his team’s policy of collecting checks, saying it helps fighters at tax time and ensures trainers are paid, he is still willing to adhere to Zuffa’s policy. He said all Golden Glory fighters were paid directly during their time with the company.

Is there a deal to be made?

Boon now waits to hear from Zuffa and hopes the two sides can make a deal.

“We are ready, man,” he said. “We regret what happened, and people had their reasons, and there was a communication error. I was two weeks in the hospital and there was a lot of mess. It doesn’t make any sense to me to start a war with the UFC.”

One clue that the door isn’t completely closed is the fact that Overeem is not fully released from his Strikeforce contract, Boon said. He is within a matching period that’s typically employed when contracts run their course. If another promotion makes a bid for the fighter’s services, the UFC could come back to the table with an offer that could see him return to the octagon. The remaining Golden Glory fighters were fully released.

Boon said Nick Diaz’s recent move to the UFC served as a perfect example of the possibilities present for Overeem, and perhaps other Golden Glory fighters.

If the right deal can be found – even one that’s exclusive – it could be a happy ending to an unfortunate situation.